12/11/2018 5 Things To Know About The IoT Platform Ecosystem

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January 26, 2016 Padraig Scully

Insights from ongoing research on IoT Platforms. First name

We are currently witnessing an explosion in IoT deployments and solutions around the world. IoT
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platforms are emerging as the central backbone of these IoT deployments – By 2023, the IoT Platform
market will reach $22.3 billion.
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These IoT Platforms are the key for the development of scalable IoT applications and services that connect
the real and virtual worlds between objects, systems and people. However, as the IoT
Platform market represents a truly new segment that was almost non-existent a few years ago, the Sign up

landscape is complex and changing very quickly.

In this article we highlight 5 IoT Platform insights:

1. Not every IoT Platform is an IoT Platform

Figure 1:  Apples vs Oranges – Not all IoT Platforms are the same

These days many companies o er an “IoT Platform” but a closer comparison reveals vast di erences. For a
newcomer it can be di cult to understand whether this term refers to a complete and mature IoT cloud
platform or
Wewhether the term
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 12/11/2018 5 Things To Know About The IoT Platform Ecosystem

When we talk about an IoT Platform we generally refer to an IoT Application Enablement Platform (see
#2 below for the eight technological elements of these platforms).

There are 4 other types of platforms that are often referred to as “IoT Platform”:

Connectivity / M2M platforms. These platforms focus mainly on the connectivity of connected IoT
devices via telecommunication networks (e.g., SIM-cards) but rarely on the processing and
enrichment of di erent sets of sensor data. (An example of a connectivity platform is Sierra Wireless’
AirVantage)
IaaS backends. Infrastructure-as-a-service backends provide hosting space and processing power for
applications and services. These backends used to be optimized for desktop and mobile applications
but IoT is now also in focus. (An example is IBM Bluemix – not to be confused with IBM IoT
Foundation)
Hardware-speci c software platforms. Some companies that sell connected devices have built
their own proprietary software backend. They like to refer to the backend as an IoT Platform. Since
the platform is not open to anyone else on the market it is debatable whether one should call it an
IoT Platform. (An example is Google Nest)
Consumer/Enterprise software extensions. Existing enterprise software packages and operating
systems such as Microsoft Windows 10 are increasingly allowing the integration of IoT devices.
Currently these extensions are often not advanced enough to classify as a full IoT Platform – but they
may get there soon.

A confusing aspect of IoT Platforms is that companies

are starting to combine di erent services. IBM for
The di erent types of IoT Platforms and example is combining its IoT Foundation application
the complex IoT Platform o erings create enablement platform with its Bluemix IaaS backend.
confusion Jasper and Telit, two companies that have traditionally
focused in the Connectivity / M2M space have now added IoT application enablement capabilities to their
o ering.

2. A modern IoT Platform architecture comprises of 8

components
In its simplest form, an IoT platform is just about enabling connectivity between “things” or devices. The
architecture may also consist of a software platform, an application development platform or an analytics
platform. In a more sophisticated form, a true end-to-end IoT platform consists of eight important
architectural building blocks:

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 12/11/2018 5 Things To Know About The IoT Platform Ecosystem

Figure 2:  The 8 components of an IoT Application Enablement Platform (Source: IoT Analytics)

1. Connectivity & normalization: brings di erent protocols and di erent data formats into one
“software” interface ensuring accurate data streaming and interaction with all devices.
2. Device management: ensures the connected “things” are working properly, seamlessly running
patches and updates for software and applications running on the device or edge gateways.
3. Database: scalable storage of device data brings the requirements for hybrid cloud-based databases
to a new level in terms of data volume, variety, velocity and veracity.
4. Processing & action management: brings data to life with rule-based event-action-triggers enabling
execution of “smart” actions based on speci c sensor data.
5. Analytics: performs a range of complex analysis from basic data clustering and deep machine
learning to predictive analytics extracting the most value out of the IoT data-stream.
6. Visualization: enables humans to see patterns and observe trends from visualization dashboards
where data is vividly portrayed through line-, stacked-, or pie charts, 2D- or even 3D-models.
7. Additional tools: allow IoT developers prototype, test and market the IoT use case creating platform
ecosystem apps for visualizing, managing and controlling connected devices.
8. External interfaces: integrate with 3rd-party systems and the rest of the wider IT-ecosystem via
built-in application programming interfaces (API), software development kits (SDK), and gateways.

Note: Built-in security by design is a must-have element for all of these building blocks; the platform
architecture has to be holistically designed so the threat of cyber attacks is minimised at every level.
 

3. Di erent entry strategies into the IoT Platform

market

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 12/11/2018 5 Things To Know About The IoT Platform Ecosystem

Figure 3:  12 of the 300 IoT platforms (Source: IoT Analytics)

There are more than 300 IoT platforms in the market today and the number is continuing to grow.
However, as discussed not every platform is the same – IoT platforms are being shaped by varying entry
strategies of di erent companies trying to capitalise on the IoT potential. Innovative Startups, hardware
and networking equipment manufacturers, enterprise software and mobility management companies are
all competing to become the best IoT platform on the market. Various strategies are visible with
companies:

Organic bottom-up approach: Starting with the connectivity part and building out platform features
from the bottom-up (e.g., Ayla Networks)
Organic top-down approach: Starting with the analytics part and building out platform features
from the top-down (e.g., IBM IoT Foundation)
Partnership approach: Striking alliances to o er the full package (e.g., GE Predix & PTC Thingworx)
M&A approach: Targeted acquisitions (e.g., Amazon – 2lemetry) or contenders performing strategic
mergers (e.g., Nokia & Alcatel-Lucent)
Investment approach: Tactical investments throughout the IoT ecosystem (e.g., Cisco).

4. Open source is driving IoT Platform interoperability

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 12/11/2018 5 Things To Know About The IoT Platform Ecosystem

Figure 4:  Open-source Vorto links the IoT Platform ecosystem (Source: www.eclipse.org/vorto/)

To create a true IoT ecosystem, where systems of systems interact and generate value from diverse
streams of data, interoperability is essential. No one IoT platform will be able to cover the wide spectrum
of existing and potential use cases yet to be envisaged.

New open source approaches where IoT platforms work together for the “greater good” are enjoying
increasing success. Open source tools such as Vorto – backed by the open Eclipse community – are
providing the missing link, implementing a common framework for information modelling that eases
integration and promotes interoperability between platforms and the entire IoT ecosystem.

For example, PTC and Bosch Software Innovations collaboration is a prime example of a major technology
alliance using Vorto to facilitate the integration and technical interplay between their two platforms.
 

5. Data and connected services are the real value of IoT

Platforms

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 12/11/2018 5 Things To Know About The IoT Platform Ecosystem

Figure 5:  Data drives the value of IoT Platforms

Gathering and connecting data points from billions of physical objects is fundamental to letting new IoT
business cases come to life. As Robert Metcalfe postulated in the 1980s: “The value of a
telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the
system”. Generating insightful data is the key to unlocking this value.

This trend will be seen in many industries: selling the main product becomes a by-product, while the
business model around the data becomes the main product.

On top of that, we will see the creation of entirely new

Companies are shifting their business industries that build business models solely on IoT data
models from selling products to handling and use hardware partners to get access to the
data  necessary data sources (e.g., the insurance industry of
the future). The IoT Platform itself becomes an essential
enabler, a means of gathering and making sense of the data, while the real value will come applying the
resulting insights to create great IoT services (e.g., predictive maintenance) for connected businesses.
 

Further Information (Updated)

For more in-depth information on IoT Platforms, check out:

IoT Platform White Paper: Central backbone for all IoT solutions (FREE)
IoT Platform Market Report 2018-2023: 193-page industry report detailing the $22B IoT Platforms
market
List of 450 IoT Platform Companies: Understand the o ering of IoT platform vendors – compare
450 IoT platforms and nd your right one
IoT Platforms Vendor Comparison 2018: 450-page industry report detailing the comparative
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analysis of leading IoT Platforms vendors
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 12/11/2018 5 Things To Know About The IoT Platform Ecosystem

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About the Author

Padraig Scully leads the market research team at IoT Analytics. He has extensive
experience in Telco and technology research having worked at Ericsson and the
Wirelss Access Research Centre at the University of Limerick. Current focus areas
include IoT Platforms, IoT Security, LPWAN, and M2M.

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Responses (21)

Sachin Shah
January 29, 2016 at 7:59 am ·

Wonderful information. Can I get some insights on consumer products connectivity with IoT?

Andrea
January 29, 2016 at 5:01 pm ·

Great summary about di erent IoT platforms. Would like to point out that we from Zenodys, the visual
IoT platform covers all 8 blocks.

mreza
February 9, 2016 at 6:47 pm ·

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in iran thethis
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